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THE PEACE PARTY AND ITS POLICY. 



E 458 
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.J52 
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SPEECH 



a"F 



ISAAC JENKINSON, 



AT 



FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, 



3MA.T2,Ch: 10. 1803 



-i^J- 



"*' There can be no neutrals in this wai^^ There can be ncns 
BUT Patriots and Tkaitors." — Ste^Jien A. l)ouglas. 







FORT WAYNE, INB.: 

K. C. F. RAYHOISER, BKINTKR, 



SPEECH. 



At a meeting of the Union men of Fort Wayne and viciuity, on Monday Evetiing, 
Marcli 16th, 1863, Mr. Jenkinson being called on, spoke as lollowe. 

Mr. President and Fellow Citizens : 

I clieerfully respond to your call this evening. I am 
ready and willino:, at all times, on all occasions, and under all cir- 
cumstances, " to give a reason for the hope that is in me." The ter- 
rible conflict our government is waging, for its very existence, de- 
mands that every patriotic citizen should speak out boldly, uncon- 
ditionally, for the integrity of the Union. The greatest danger lies 
not in the armies of rebellion. All around us, in secret conclave, are 
the midnight plotters of disunion. Already do their works proclaim 
their purposes. Deep mutterings and fierce threatenings assail up 
on every side. Bad men, insidiously at work, inflaming the worst 
passions of the people. Bitter in their denunciation of every thing 
done calculated to suppress the rebellion. Like the Pharisees of 
old, who assailed our Savior with the question: "Why do ye that 
which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?" they are constantly 
questioning the right of the people to save the country. "Stop 
fighting. Make an armistice — no formal treaty. Withdraw your 
army from the seceded' States. Reduce both armies to a fair and 
sufficient peace establishment. Declare absolute free trade between 
the North and the South. Buy and sell. Agree udou a Zollverein. 
Recall your fleets. Break up your blockades. Reduce your navy. 
Restore travel. Open up railroads. Re-establish the telegraph. — 
Re-unite your express companies. No more Monitors and iron- 
clads, but set your friendly steamers and steamships again in motion. 
Visit the North and W^est. Visit the South. Exchange newspa- 
pers- Migrate. Intermarry. Let slavery alone. Hold elections 
at the appointed times. Choose a new President in 1864," etc., etc., 
is the proclamation of one who is high priest in this order of uncon- 
ditional submissionists. 

Compromise ! Acknowledge the Confederacy! Have peace on 
any terms ! no matter how degrading or disastrous it may be to th« 
government! The rallying cry of this " Peace Party" is not a nevr 
one in the history of our country. But every party that has ever ut- 
tered it, at the expense of honor and patriotism, has been branded 
with an infamy that eternity will not efiace. It was proclaimed by 
the tories of the Revolution, — echoed by the Hartford Convention 



Federalists of 1812, — adopted by the disnnionists of the South, and 
now renewed by their sympathisers in the North and West. 

" Peace, sir, peace is what wo want for the restoration of the Fed- 
' eral Union and the preservation of constitutional liberty," were 
among the last words uttered, in the American Senate, by the late 
Vice President, now a general commanding in the disunion army. 
And these words have become the 81iihholetli of submissionists, 
from that day to this, everywhere throughout the loyal States of the 
Union. 

"When treason, like the vulture iti the classic myth, was gorging 
itself upon the vitals of our country ; when traitors were found in the 
Cabinet, in the halls of Congress, on the judicial bench, in every de- 
partment of our government, from the highest to the humblest, this 
cry of peace, peace, was proclaimed to cover up and conceal their 
evil machinations. While traitorous hands were shearing our sleep- 
ing government of its strength, robbing our arsenals and armories, 
stealing and appropriating the money from our treasury, dispersing- 
«*«r army and scattering our navy to the ends of the earth, the land 
was still vocal with the traitorous cry of " peace, peace, all is well." 
And when these schemes of treason had culminated, when State af- 
ter State was raising the standard of revolt, confederating to destroy 
the Union, trampling upon the constitution and bidding defiance to 
the laws, seizing upon forts and navy yards, and turning the gov- 
ernment's own guns against its life, an astonished and remonstrant 
])eople were answered, with the perfection of impudence, " Let us 
alone, we only want to live in peace." 

But the time came to drop this hypocritical cry of peace by south- 
ern traitors, and, after a brief space, to be taken up and prolonged 
by their allies of the North. The little band of brave men who held 
Fort Sumter, in the face of an overpowering multitude of rebels, 
were attacked, and compelled to the shame, for the first time in our 
history, of lowering the flag of our Union to traitors in arms. The 
boom of cannon, on the pheasant Sabbath day that witnessed this 
desecration, reverberated through every part of the country, lie- 
bellion unmasked, stood forth armed to the teeth. The West and 
North, so long lulled by the deceptive cry of peace and compromise, 
arose almost as one man to avenge the insult and protect the gov- 
ernment. In the wailing language of a leading submissionist, in 
tlj^e halls of Congress, 

" The storm raged with the fury of a hurricane. Never in 



* history was anything equal to it. Men, women and children, native 
' and foreign born, church and state, clergy and laymen, were all 

* swept along with the current. Distinctions of age, sex, station, 

* party, perished in an instant. Thousands bent before the tempest; 
' and Iiere and there only was one found bold enough, foolhardy 
' enough, it may have been, to bend not, and upon him it fell as a 



' consuming lire. * * * * Five raen and half a score of 
' newspapers made np the opposition." 

Such was the spontaneous outburst of patriotism that thrilled the 
hearts of the people. Party animosities were forgotten. Prejudi- 
ces were uprooted. Distinctions were leveled. Caste and condition 
were obliterated. The politician and the scholar, the minister and 
layman, rich and poor, old and young, male and female, all rallied 
to the su])port of the government. Meetings were held. Words of 
glowing patriotism were uttered. Universal enthusiasm prevailed. 
Never was such unanimity known. Proud day for America. Teach- 
ing a lesson to demagogues in all ages to come, that the great mass- 
es of the people, when left to their own honest convictions, are true 
as the needle to the pole, in their devotion to their country. That 
when left free from the influence and wiles of bad men, they 
can do all, dare all, sacrifice all for their country's good. A people 
worthy their rich inheritance, — the freest, grandest government on 
earth. 

But mingling in this enthusiasm, loud in their utterances of loyal- 
ty, vvx^re many who had only " bent before the tempest." Unable to 
control, they would ride upon the whiidwind. Old political sinners 
v\dio had never worsldppcd but at the shrine of party — who knew no 
fealty but party o])ligations. Their patriotism was assumed. Their 
eathusiasm was lor a jrarpose. To them the seceded states were 
" erring sisters." Bloodthirsty traitors were " misguided l)rethren." 
In their hearts they would rather the government should be destroy- 
ed by former political friends, than saved by political opponents.' — 
They could not believe the government worth preserving, unless pre- 
served for their party, therefore the party in power must be over- 
thrown. The President must be assailed. His administration must 
be rendered unpopular. His efforts to save the government must be 
denounced. He must be branded as usurper, tyrant, despot. The 
traitorous cry of peace was revived. The old creed of the " Blue 
Light" Federalists was dragged from its tomb of infamy and pro- 
claimed anew. Midnight meetings of mischief plotting traitors were 
assembled. A party for " peace on any terms" was organized. And 
our gallant soldiers, who had gone by thousands, with their lives in 
their hands, to battle for the perpetuity of free institutions, suddenly 
found an enemy in their rear, meaner and more dangerous than the 
enemy in front. 

Let us for a moment compare the " Peace Party" of 1812 with the 
" Peace Party" of to-day. It is no part of my purpose to examine the 
causes that led to that war. Enough to know that when our country 
was struggling with a powerful foe, in defence of the rights of Amer- 
ican citizens, a party arose, in sympathy with the eneni}^, assailed the 
government, obstructing its efforts toward a successful prosecution 
of the war, and in every way possible rendering aid and comfort to 
our assailants. When the gallant Commodore Decatur, was for 



months confined with his fleet to New London harbor, closely watch- 
ed by an overpowering British squadron, a " Blue Light Telegraph" 
was concocted, by these traitors, to communicate his every move- 
ment to the enemy. Thus rendering ineffectual every attempt he 
made to escape. He writes on the 20th December, 1813, to the 
Secretary of the Navy. 

" Some few nights since, the weather promised an opportunity for this squadron 
to get to sea; and it was said on shore that we intended to make the attempt. — 
In the course of the evening, two Blue Lights were burnt on both the points at 
the harbor's mouth, as signals to the enemy ; and there is not a doubt, but that 
they have, by sign^jls and otherwise, instantaneous information of our movements. 
Great but unsuccessful efforts have been made to detect those who communicate 
with the enemy by signals." 

Again, the National Advertiser^ of March 15th, 1814, says that 
on the Tuesday evening preceding, 

" There was at that place a considerable storm of snow and rain, and the ap- 
pearance of the weather being favorable for our squadron to put to sea, Commo- 
dore Decatur issued an order, requiring all his officers on shore to repair without 
delay on board their respective vessels. Shortly after this. Blue Lights were 
thrown up like rockets from Long Point, and distinctly seen by the officers at 
Fort Trumbull, and by the officers and men on board the look-out boats. They 
were answered by three heavy guns from the ships of the enemy, at intervals of 
about fifteen minutes. The lights were continued tnrough the night." 

This was only one among the many means resorted to, by the 
" Peace Party" of that time, to assist our enemy in arms. But it was 
in the infamous Hartford Convention they first formally proclaimed 
their opposition to the government, and set forth their purposes. \\\ 
the address and resolutions adopted by that body, we find an identity 
of purpose with tlie submissionists of the present day. The address 
adopted, but afterwards vainly attempted to be suppressed by them, 
dwells upon the follov^dng points: 

That the acts of the government becoming insupportable it was ne- 
cessary, in the opinion of that body, to devise suitable means to avert 
or resist them. 

That the afflictions brought upon the country by the war with Eng- 
land were the results of a weak and profligate administration of the 
government by Mr. Madison ; and that the President, with all other 
officers of the government who had approved that policy, ought to 
be dismissed with disorace. 

That one portion of the Union had imposed on another a section- 
al jpolicy; that if this policy was not abandoned the Union would 
have failed in its purposes. 

That if the Union were to be dissolved, through the abuses of a 
bad administration it should be done in peace and not by war. 

That if the evils they complained of, were to be permanent, then a 
Reparation of States would be desirable, as better than a forced al- 
liance among nominal friends but real enemies. 



7 

Tbat in sticli event, a "confederacy between such States orily as 
Were able to maintain a federal relation, should be adopted. 

That there existed a combination toperpetuate the government in 
^the hands of the President's friends That none but ])artizan friends 
were appointed to office. That the constitution had been violated. 
That the admission of new States had destroyed the balance of pow- 
er among the States. And that the administration was acting upon 
a visionary and superficial theory in regard to commerce, accom- 
panied by a feigned regard, but real hatred to its interests, and ru- 
inous perseverence in eiibrts to render it an instrument of coercion 
and loar. And, finally^ they recomntended tuat the true friends of 
the country, ehould rally in their united strength and place the con- 
-stitution in the hands of those who alone were able to save it. 

How familiarlv upon the ear fall the terms of that address. How 
exactly in the footste|>6 of the tories of that day tread the submis- 
. sionists of this. Now, as then, the administration by its acts is out- 
raging the rights of the people, and means mustbe adopted to "avert 
or resist them." Lincoln, like Madison, is " weak and profligate," 
and should be dismissed in disgrace. Now, as then, the whole trouble 
' originated with a '"'' sectional jpariif and a '"'■ sectional policy^'' which 
have brought on the -war and will lead to disunion. Stop fight- 
ing and agree, by compromise, on the terms of secession, was the 
traitorous cry of fifty years ago and is re-echoed to-day. " Nominal 
friends, but real enemies." " Perpetuating pawer in the hands of the 
President." "Partisan friends." "Violatmg the constitution." — 
"^'Coercion and war," etc., etc. What familiar phrases — and every 
• one of them stolen from the " Blue Liight" Federalists of 1812. 

The first and princij^al resolution adopted by that body is so ex- 
: actly in accordance with the spirit of the opposition manifested at 
.this time, against the acts of Congress, that I give it entire. It is in 
these -words: 

'■ Resolved, That it be and is hereby recommended to the legislatures of the 
several States represented in this convention, to adopt all such measures as may 
be necessary eflectually to protect the citizens of said States from the operation 
•Jind effects of all acts which have been or may be passed by the Congress of the 
United States, which shall contain provisions subjecting themUitia or other citi- 
zens to forcible draft, conscription, or impressment, not authorized by the con- 
stitution of the United States." 



They, too, like the advocates of the Crittenden resolutions of the 
present day, were dissatisfied with the constitution, and presented a 
long string of amendments which they insisted should be adopted for 
the pacification of the country. Calling upon the States, in case 
their prefcefided grievances were not redressed in their wa}', to meet 
in a generatl peace convention in Boston, to take such steps "as the 
exigency of a crisis so momentous may require." 

Such were the traitorous acts of the Peace Parly of 1812, and itis 
.a revival of their policy, in every important particular, that the sub- 
.anissionists .are now so industriously engaged in effecting* 



What will he the result ? Just as s-ni-c as the same cause always 
produces the same eflect, will the eternity of infamy, that rests on 
the traitors of that war, gather and fasten upon the memory of 
those who would now basely betray their country. Fifty years hence, 
the cheek will tingle with shame, and the head will boAv in degrada- 
tion of him who is so unfortunate as. to be descended from a rebel 
sympathizer in the Great Kebellion The whole world will hold 
their memory accursed. 

I have shown you the origin of these peace men, you will not, there- 
fore, be surprised to find them engaged in waging a factious oppo- 
sition toward the administration. With a strange inconsistency, they 
are m-ging, at the same time, a compromise on the basis of the Crit- 
tendei? resolutions, and the preservation of " the Union as it was and 
the constitution as it is." Compromise they know is utterly impos- 
sible. That secessionists have spurned their propositions — have 
spit upon them — and with a scorn they did not attempt to conceal, . 
have denounced and defied them. Even during the discussion of 
the peace ofiering made by the Kentucky Senator, when submis- 
sionists were hastening, with eager hands, to tear our constitution to 
pieces, and reconstruct it on any terms to please the Soutf, they were 
rebuked for their craven spirit by the Senator from Texas, (Mr. Wig- 
fall) who said: 

"BelieviriG;, — no, sir, not believincr, but knowing — that this Union is di^isolvcd. . 
never, never to be reconstructed upon any terms — not if you were to hand ns* 
blank paper, and ask us to writea constitution, would we ever again be confed- 
erated with you. * * * Then knowing that the Union is dissolved, that re- 
construction is impossible, I would, myself, had 1 been counseled by tiic Union - 
savers, have told them that Union-saving was impracticable." 

Not even when that Senator, in the course of the same discussion. , 
taunted them with their baseness, and dared them to resent the in- 
sults cast upon the flag of our country, did they arouse from their 
abject course of submission. Referring to the attack on an unarm- 
ed vessel, going with provisions to save from starvation the little 
band of patriots confined with Major Anderson in Fort Sumter, he 
said. 

"The Star of the West swaggered into Charleston harbor, received a blow 
planted full in the face, and staggered out. Your flag has been insnlted, redres.t 
it, if you dare. Yoti have submitted to it for two months^ and you tvill submit 
to it forever." 

And he was answered by one of these submissionists, (Mr. KicE 
of Minnesota,) in imploring terms not to talk. of war. 

" I wish to say to the Senator, and to the Senate of the United States, that but 
a few weeks nno, my State, so far as 1 am advised, considered 'ihat the greatest 
calamity that could befall this country was secesion ; but I believe they now 
consider a civil war to be a greater calamity than secession. We ndll do all that 
•wo honorably can to keep the Southern States with us, but if they are determiQ-. 
ed to leave us they must go in. peace." 



It is such replies as this, to the braggadocio and bluster of the south, . 
that have taught them to believe we were a race of dastards and 
cowards. No wonder they thought they could drive us, as they drive 
their slaves, into submission and obedience. 

And when the rebels, themselves, had commenced the war, had 
attacked and destroyed Fort Sumter, had levied an army and were 
menacing the capital of om- country, the President's call for a force 
to repel them was received by these rebel sympathisers with earnest 
appeals not to attempt coercion. Though the rebels were threaten- 
ing to carry the war into the loyal States, and proclaiming that they 
would soon be able to dictate terms of peace from the halls of our 
national capitol, the President was still counseled against employing 
force, to protect the government and enforce an observance of the 
laws. From the earnest manner in which they rang the chang'^s on 
this term " coercion," one would have thought it was some strange 
and barbarous means of oppression, worse than the Inquisition or 
the Bastile. And yet it is a simple, every-day recognized element 
of govei-nment.. No government could exist a single moment 
without it. Why, sir, all over the land, wherever you see % court 
house, you find a temple of coercion ;. wherever you meet a 
judge or sheriif, a justice or a constable, you find ministers of 
coercion. All our laws are full of it ; and it is the exercise of 
this right of government that has made us a free, a happy, and a 
prosperous people. But they do not object to the coercion of an 
individual, if he steals his neighbor's horse, or destroys his proper- 
ty, he should be punished. If he commits murder he should be 
hanged. But the President must not enforce the laws against the, 
rebels, they may steal, destroy and murder, but do not resent it, do 
not coerce them to obedience, they are the chivalrous sons of the 
South, and are above all law ! 

Coupled with the term coercion was heard that other terril'ying 
phantom — " Subjugation-" Will you, dare you, attempt to subjugate 
the South ? was indignantly demanded of the loyal North. I answer 
yes; I would subjugate every man of them. Just as the loyal peo- 
ple of the North are all subjects of our government, and in subjection 
to its laws, would I have the southern people subjuc^ated. No loyal 
man in the country is too high or too low to be a subject of our gov- 
ernment, and in subjection to the constitution and the laws. Just as 
Abraham Lincoln is a subject of the government he is administer- 
ing — ^^just as you and I are subjects of the same government, and 
bound by its laws, would I have every man of the South subjugated. 
Subjugation, much as the word has been perverted, means nothing 
more than this. If the rebel Davis, with a hundred men at his back, 
or a hundred thousand, attempts to resist the laws and overthrow the 
government, I would subjugate him — compel him to obey the laws 
and respect the government. So would I subjugate any northern 
rebel who should attempt the same resistance. It is by perverting 
plain words like these that the submissionists of the northern States . 



Kave attempted to seduce and mislead the people. They knowtlial 
every people who are bound by laws and respect them, are subju- 
gated, and that every government with power sufficient to enforce 
obedience to its laws, is a coercive government. And they know 
that all that is meant or intended by coercing or subjugating the 
southern people, is simply to require them to acknowledge the "Union 
as it was and the constitution as it is," and to obey the laws. Let 
them become loyal citizens and they will not need to be coerced or 
subjugated. 

I come now to another question ■upon -which these submissionists 
have arraigned the administration, and denomiced the President as 
a tyrant and despot. I mean th-e suspension oi^ the writ of habeas 
corpus^ and the arrest of those suspected of disloyal practices. No 
truly loyal man has ever suffered, or can possibly suffer, through the 
-exercise of this power by the President. It is only those whose acts 
are too suspicious to be loyal, or ver2;e so closely upon treason as 
.not to be distinguished from it, wiio have every cause t-o fear. It 
is not stranoe that these complain. Like their great prototype, the 
itory, McFingal, they think 

"AH punishments tb« world can render 
Serve only to provoke th' offender, 
No man e'er felt the halter draw^ 
With good opinion of the law." 

I would not treat this subject lightly. The wiit of haheas corpus is 
an inestimable privilege, and should only be suspended in extreme 
cases. Our constitution has therefore properly declared, that "• the 
privilege of die writ of haheas corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may recjuire 
it." In a rebellion like the present, whenever the public safety 
makes it necessary, this privilege may be suspended, and the only 
question that can arise, under the constitution, is, as to who may 
judge of the necessity. Its suspension never being allowed, only in 
time of war, and for war purposes, it clearly follows that the neces- 
sity can only be determined by those who have charge of the war. 
As a military necessity only, it must be determined by the military 
authorities alone. As the highest military officer known to our laws 
— the commander-in-chief of the army .and navy — the President has, 
undoubtedly, the right to exercise the power, whenever in his judg- 
ment the safety -of the country may demand it. Nor is he confined 
in the exercise of this power to the States alone where the armies of 
rebellion are gathered. The whole United States are engaged in 
this war. War exists as much in Indiana as in any other State. And 
if the enemies of the government are found in Indi-ana, engaged in 
disloyal practices, the President's right to suspend this writ, and ar- 
rest these enemies, is as full and complete as in any other State of 
the Ujjjon. 

The CouOTess of the United States have decided — and the Ameri- 



11 

can people have fully acquiesced in that decision — that the suspen- 
sion of this writ is a military necessity and properly exercised by the 
military authorities. I refer, of com'se, to the case of Gen. Jackson 
at New Orleans. That case was precisely similar to those complain- 
ed of now. Jackson arrested Louaillier, a member of the Legisla- 
tm*e, for publishing a seditious article in a New Orleans paper, stim- 
ulating- the people to disobedience of the "orders of the General, just 
as the people arc now being stimulated to resist the conscription act. 
On Louaillier's application, Judge Hall issued his writ of hdbeofi 
corpus. Jackso.i not only disobeyed it but arrested the judge. Ai- 
terwards Judge Hall assessed a line against Jackson for contempt of 
court, which fine was refunded to him by the Congress of the United 
States, and his conduct in the whole matter fully approved. In the 
discussions arising in Congress, upon the proposition to sustain Gen. 
Jackson and refund the amount of his line, many able speeches were 
made, taking strong ground not only in favor of the constitutional 
right of a general to suspend tlie privilege of this writ, but as a riglit 
of self defense above all law. Upon this point Judge Douglas, th<'n 
a member of the House of Representatives, is reported by Mr. Ben- 
ton, in his Debates, to have said: 

"Talk about illetrality ! Talk about formalities! Why, there was but one 
formality to be observed ; and that was the formality of directing the cannon, and 
destroyine; the enemy, regardless of the means, whether it be by the seizure of 
cotton bags, or the seizure of persons, if the necessity of the case required it. — 
The God of nature has conferred this right on men and nations; and therefore 
let him not be told it was unconstitutional. To defend the country, let him not 
be told that it was unconstitutional to use the necessary means. The constitution 
was adopted for the protection of the country; and under the constitution the 
nation had a right to exercise all the powers that were necessary for the protec- 
tion of the country. If martial law was necessary to the salvation of the country, 
martial law was Iciral for that purpose. If it was necessary for a judge, for the 
preservation of <n-dcr, to punish for contempt, he thought it was necessary for a 
general to exercise control over his cannon, to imprison traitors, and to arrest 
spies, and to intercept communications with the enemy. If this was necessary, 
then all this was legal." 

As a precedent this settles the question. And the clamor now 
raised against the President for his arrest of suspected traitors, and 
his suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus., is only 
for partisan purposes. And made by men who regard the overthrow 
of the party in power, and the success of their own party, as of far 
greater consequence, than tlie suppression of the re1)cllion. 

But it is not alone his party that the " peace man" of the present 
day exalts above the constitution and the Union. Far more precious 
to him, than the preservation of the government, is the institution of 
Slavery. No matter if it does give aid and comfort to the rebellion, 
it is a sacred, God-given right, and must not be profaned by the un- 
holy hand of war. Slavery he knows is the end and o1)ject of this 
rebellion. That Vice President Stevens has declared that it is to bo 
^' the corner stone of the confederacy." And that a leading rebel 



13 

senator has impiously proclaimed, that they intended' spreading " the- 
blessings of slavery, like the religion of our divine Master, to the 
uttermost ends of the earth." He knows if the traitors should suc- 
ceed in overthrowing our government, they would establish slavery 
in every State of the Union. He knows too that slavery is in direct 
conflict with the declared purposes of the constitution. That while 
it exists we cannot have " a more perfect Union," " establish justice," 
" secure domestic tranquility," or provide for the " common defence" 
or " general welfare." And he knows that a contest, "the grand- 
est, the bloodiest and the saddest in history" is being waged between 
his government and slavery, and knowing that no man can serve 
two masters, he deliberately proclaims himself against freedom and 
his country. Professing a desire to preserve the " Union as it was, 
and the constitution as it is," he is loud in his advocacy of the Crit- 
tenden compromise, the object of which was to change the constitu- 
tion and exalt the slave power. He is walling to violate and destroy 
the constitution to serve the purposes of slavery, but not to save the 
government. 

Forgetting the danger to the government and the Union, thinking- 
only of slavery and its preservation, the emancipation proclamation 
of the President, is denounced by these peace men, because, that 
while it may help to save the country, it may destroy the god of their' 
idolatry. Their pretended fear of secession is swallowed up in their 
greater dread of abolitionism. All who are not willing to sacrifice 
the wdiite man's liberty, to perpetuate the black man's slavery,, are 
worse than traitors. Amalgamation and Negro equality, are their 
greatest terror. Let me assure them the Union men of the country 
will not interfere with their rights in these respects. They are old,- 
long enjoyed and secured to them by prescription. The secession- 
ist of the South, or the submissionist of the North, may enjoy, with- 
out let or hindrance, his taste in this matter. Union men love 
their country better than they love the Negro. It is only among se- 
cessionists that amalgamation is found. There are more mulattoes 
in Virginia to-day than in all the loyal States combined. I say, if a 
white man is mean enough to be the father of a mulatto child, he is 
not too good to marry its mother. And if his conscience should 
trouble him for his wrong, and he should wish to make reparation, 
in God's name, let him do it, the degradation will not be on his part. 

But let me examine this with seriousness. I confess I approach 
the subject with humiliation. The idea advanced by these pro- 
slavery fanatics is so degrading to humanity that I loath to entertain 
it, or discuss it for even a moment. The idea that the masses of our 
white population are so enamored of the black, that only the most 
stringent laws will prevent their rushing to their arms. I remember' 
some years ago, our owm State of Indiana, carried away with this 
idea, enacted a law that when a young man applied for a marriage 
license, he was required to make oath, or prove by unquestionable- 
evidence, that his betrothed was not a negro wench. The law shock- 



13 

-ed the sensibilities of our people. Young men \eould not suLuiit to 
the humiliation. They would not allow the deorading reflection to be 
cast upon their loved ones. The women rebelled with their whole 
souls against the enactment. What ! not alloAved to marry until they 
first proved they were not Negresses ! Public opinion IbrctMl the re- 
peal of the law. It is the same degrading distrust of tlie pc()])lc that 
would revive it now. But do white men show any such predilection 
for black wives ? Certainly not in the free States. I know we have 
rarely and at long intervals a disgusting case of the kind. But it is 
only in defiance of the tastes and feelings of the white race, and would 
not be prevented if our statute books were full of enactments against 
it. Marriage is the result of similarity of tastes, habits and tempera- 
ment. B' these assimilate more nearly to the black than the white 
race, the man will seek him a wife from among the blacks. The lib- 
eration of the slaves will not change this disposition in the white man. 
The most disgusting instance on record, because the man descended 
from the highest position, and was endowed with the highest mental 
ability, was one where a slave woman was selected for a wife. Not 
an abolitionist either, but one whom the pro-slavery democracy loved 
to honor. One who has lilled the high position of Vice President 
of the United States. Superior as he may have been intellectually, 
socially he was no more than the equal of this slave woman. And 
thus it will ever be, in spite of laws, in disregard of public taste, oc- 
<}asionally a man will be found so low in the social life as to be only 
the ef[ual of the negro race. No law can elevate him and none can 
prevent him seeking a congenial union. Emancipation M'ill not 
make these more frequent. Neither will emancipation equali;^e the 
races in other respects. Mentally, physically, morally the Negro 
will remain the samp. If in tlie new light of freedom that may dawn 
upon his soul, he can rise up and feel himself mc re the man his 
Creator intended him to be, it will only make him better for life's 
purposes, and in no degree lessen the white man's boasted superi- 
ority. 

But it is said if emancipation is proclaimed, and the slaves set 
free, the North will be overrun by the freed negroes. Is this true? 
What says experience upon this point? It is a well known fact that 
there are more free negroes now in the fifteen slave States than in 
the nineteen free States of the Union. No race is more attached, 
and clings more devotedly, to the locality of birth, than the Negro. 
Maryland with a population of 84,000 free negroes, and Virginia 
with 58,000, show that not more than two per cent of the whoie were 
born without their respective States. Thus they are willing to en- 
dure the greatest degradation, in a land where their race is en- 
slaved, just on the borders of our free States, rather than leave the 
graves of their ancestors. How much more woidd they cling to 
that land, if the curse of slavery was removed, and the Negro re- 
cognised as a man ? Virginia has more than 20,000 free negroes 
more than Ohio, and Missoiui three times as many as Iowa. Thus- 



14: 



upon the very threshold of freedom, with every inducement to mi- 
grate, they will not do it. By remaining, they are simply obeying-; 
a peculiarity of their race, and one that will fasten them, with ten 
times more devotion to the south, when they are allowed there to> 
own the product of their own labor. 

Neither will the North be overrun, by the negro race, should we 
all turn abolitionists. On the contrary, il the pro-slavery partizans 
are honest m their declarations of disliKe of the negroes, I would 
advise them to turn abolitionists to avoid them. It has been clearly 
demonstrated, by a distinguished hater of the negro race, Mr. Cox, 
of Ohio, that the black men shun the abolitionists and cling to the 
pro-slavery democrats with strange tenacity. In a late speech in 
Congress, ho says, that in his own district, composed of the counties- 
of Licking, Franklin and Pickaway, (which gave four thousand ma- 
jority last fall, for ihe peace party ticket,) there are 2660 blacks. — 
While in the late distiict of Mr. Giddings, the great abolition dis- 
trict of Ohio, there are but 166 ! In the county in which Mr. Cox 
resides, Franklin, a pro-slavery county, there are 1578 negroes,, 
while in ten of the worst abolition counties of the Western Reserve 
there are but 1851, as follows. 

Ashtabula, - - 25 

Cuyahoga, (Cleveland) - 891 

Lake, - - - 36 

Mahoning' - - - 61 

Portage - - - 76 

Total, 1854 

The county of that arch abolitionist, Joshua R. Giddings, having 
only 25 negroes within it. And speaking of the Toledo district, re- 
presented by Mr. Ashley, so much abused for being an abolitionist, 
Mr. Cox says : " Yet from the whole eleven counties of his district, 
he cannot count as many negroes by half as live in my own county.''' 
And in our own State does the same test hold good. Of the en- 
tire number of negroes, reported by the census of 1860, in Indiana, 
a large majority are found in those counties that gave majorities for 
the peace party ticket at the last election. Our Congressional dis- 
trict, (the 10th) is an illustration. This district is composed of eight 
counties, four of these cast majorities for Mr. Edgerton and four fbr 
Mr. Mitchell. In the district are 218 negroes, divided among the 
counties as follows : 



Trumbull, 


80 


Geauga, 


- 7 


Lorain, (Oberlin) 


549 


Medina 


- 38 


Summit, - 


88 



Counties that gave maj. for Edgerton. 

Allen 63 

Dekalb 15 

Elkhart 20 

IVhitley 92 



Total, 



190 y 



Counties that gave maj. for MitchelL 
Kosciusko , 2 

Lagrange 1^ 

Noble «■ 

Steuben 2 



Total, 



2& 



15 

Showing that in the foiir^x)unties tliat gave raajoritres fbr Mr. Ed' 
gerton are found seven-eights of all the negroes in the district. 

Thus it is clear that,4bolitioni8m has no attraction for the negro' 
race, but that they prefer to associate with the friends of their south- 
ern masters. PerhUps it is, 

"A fellow feeling makes them' wondrous kind." 

The same tender regard that induces these submissionists of the' 
North to gather the negro race about them, also impels them to op- 
pose their employment in defense of the government. While the 
rebel Davis is forcing, by conscription, into the ranks of his army, 
ail classes of people, white and black,.bond and freej. while he is per- 
petrating all kinds of atrocities on our friends, liring our hospitals,, 
murdering in cold blood our wounded soldiers in his hands, even arm- 
ing with scalping knife and tomahawk the merciless savages on om- 
frontier, we are called, on to treat him as a manly, chivalrous oppo- 
nent. To have a tender regard for his feelings, and to protect nis 
property. AVhen the rebel slave owners have sent their slaves to 
dig the ditches, and erect the fortifications that strengthen and sus- 
tain the rebellion, our soldiers have been sent to guard the houses- 
and prptect the families of these traitorous masters.. And when we- 
would change all thisy and leave the rebels to take care of them- 
selves,, accept the services of loyal blacks, gladly tendered to do the 
hard work of our own soldiers, a hus and cry is raised by these sub- 
missionists, and the country is full of lamentations for a violated con- 
stitution. When these blacks come to us, with willing hands and 
loyal hearts, anxious to be employed,. willing to give us information- 
offering to dig our trenches, fight for us, do anything for us, if we^ 
will onl}^ let them, what should be our reply? kShould we drive 
them off, send them back to work for the rebels, tell tnem we choose 
to let our gallant volunteers be sacrificed, sweltering beneath a south- 
ern sun, in labors for which they are unfit, rather than to accept 
their services?. That we do not want their aid, that we do not want 
their information, but to go back and obey their masters? Such 
would be the answer of those whose hearts are overflowing with 
sympathy for rebellion, but have no thought for the brave boys who 
are drooping, day by day, beneath the heavy burdens of a soldier's 
life, sacrificing all save honor for the very men who thus forget.^ 
them. 

But I must hasten to a conclusion; I have said enough of ting 
Peace Party and its policy, to convince any candid man that it 
is only a factious organization, with the sole purpose of thwarting 
the administration in the prosecution of the war, and thereby to aid 
the rebellion. God knows, if peace conld be obtained upon honora- 
ble terms — and only such in my judgment can be honorable as will 
preserve the integrity of the Union — I would embrace it with my 
whole soul. But I firmly believe, in the words of the dead Douglas- 
that the only road to a permanent peace is by " the most stupendous- 



16 

; and unanimous preparations for war," and by sustaining the admin- 
istration and the army with the whole energy of a united people.— 
Those who are engaged in the unholy work of sowing dissentions 
^among us, are guilty of the most stupendous crime upon earth. It 
is a crime against the thousands who are battling for liberty on the 
field of death. It is a crime against that government which is the 
last remaining hope of liberty on earth. It is a crime against op- 
pressed humanity everywhere tliroughout the world. And it is a 
crime against the God of nations who has blessed us above andbe- 
3''ond all other people. 

Let us then who love our country above all else, work unceasing- 
ly for harmony and united action, not for partisan purposes, not to 
advance the interests of any man, or set of men, but to preserve 
our country from destruction. Let our rallying cry be union for the 
sake of the Union. Let us stand faithfully by the administration in 
every eflbrt to suppress sedition. In its weakness, where it is weak, 
let us strengthen it. In its strength, where it is strong, let us aid it, 
not for its own sake, but for the sake of the country. Let us earn- 
estly labor until there shall arise fi-om the grave of the old patriot, 
who lies buried at Marshfield, a voice of patriotism, that shall echo 
and re-echo from every hill-side in New England, until every heart 
shall thrill with loyal enthusiasm, and every voice shall join in the 
cry of " Union and liherty^ one and insejparableP'^ And as the 
sound rolls westward, an answering cry may come up from the ashes 
of the old hero of the Hermitage, which shall be caught up and pro- 
claimed by the hundreds of thousands, who dwell in the valleys of 
the Great Father of Waters, declaring with one voice, the "Fedekai. 

•UkION, JT must and shall be PEE3EKVED." 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




